Here’s my notes for the talk about how to sell the benefits of Free Software into your Orgnisation…
A quick intro:
What is open source, why should you care about it and how can it be of use to you in your professional life? This talk provides a high level introduction to Open Source software and some its benefits in an organisation.
Geared for IT professionals this talk is in two parts, designed to enable you to “sell” the use of Open Source into your organisation and how to work with it once there.
The talk itself:
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What is free / open source software…
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Simply, its software that when distributed includes the source code and which grants the right to view modify and share it.
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That’s it!
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So what’s the big deal?
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This simple detail makes a world of difference.
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The freedom insinuated by the term Free Software has generated a wave of professional and amateur developers to create “free” alternatives to proprietary products.
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How?
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By fostering communities built around open collaboration allowing people to “scratch that itch” and demonstrate their skills in the free software bazaar.
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So what are the real benefits of Free / Open Source Software?
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Costs:
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Well, more often than not the software is free (as in beer)
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Any costs associated are directly related to the value of its use – customization, support etc.
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By Using Free Software you are not tied to any one vendor who purchased the sole right to sell the solution
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Simplicity:
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Licensing – implementation of free Software is facilitated thanks to its licensing
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e.g. need a solution fast > roll it out from your app repository >> configure and run.
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A lot less red tape than would be usually involved with proprietary vendors, especially where integration is concerned.
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Which leads me to…
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Open Standards:
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Being based on openly published standards, implementation and integration with free / open source software tends to be transparent and flexible.
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Reliability & Security:
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Use with caution, the diversity of apps means that this may not be true but for the apps with a strong community and mature product the higher visibility of the code will ensure this.
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Case Studies:
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This little thing called the Internet…
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Apache / BIND / Postfix etc – the foundation of the Internet
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MySQL, PostgreSQL etc – storing the data of the Internet
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PHP, (Javascript?), Perl, Python, Ruby etc – powering the applications that are the Internet
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The Desktop…
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Firefox, thunderbird, Open Office etc – need I say more?
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Ubuntu – A real alternative to the average users desktop.
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Servers:
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See “The Internet” above – Google.
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Free VS Proprietary Case Study
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Who owns your business? You or your vendor?
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Proprietary – Needs complete adaptation of the infrastructure to suit – Change AD, redefine security policies, per machine configs with no chance for global config.
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Free – Slots into existing infrastructure and assimilates processes to make them more efficient – migration and merging of various applications
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Conclusion:
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Most often a real alternative to proprietary solutions
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In many cases the free software model provides extra benefits – community support & improvement.
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Costs associated are directly related to the value associated with use of the software
Teach_Your_Boss_How_to_FLOSS_Part_I